Hocus Pocus, the Magic Lie
by Jakilani
Summary: Both of them had known it at some point in their lives, the feeling of being unwanted. When he met her, they decided to leave it all behind. They put their faith in it, a lie that things would be okay. Hocus pocus, and they vanished. But for how long? Based on the song Hocus Pocus by Shikemoku. Rated T for safety. Warnings inside. AU. Oneshot.


Based on the song Hocus Pocus by Shikemoku

The vocaloids who sing it, Hatsune Miku and Gumi, are owned by Crypton and Internet Co Ltd, respectively.

Hetalia and all its characters are owned by Hidekaz Himaruya

To cover all bases, I own absolutely nothing. Neither does Sugar Lime.

Warnings: Abduction, slash (just mentioned later), hopefully feels, possible OOCness

Jaki's A/N: Now, I know what you're thinking. "Jaki, why aren't you working on the next chapter for AHSoE?! It's your turn! Quit procrastinating!" But I was inspired! Inspired, I tell you! I just thought the story could work so well with Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Some of this may not be exactly accurate because I was too lazy to look stuff up. Sorry. Anyway, here you go. Please enjoy.

* * *

It was a crisp autumn day, not that Vash really cared much. He trudged idly down the street, no clear destination in mind. His boots scuffed the sidewalk with every step, crushing freshly fallen leaves with an increasingly unsatisfying lack of a loud crunch. It wasn't quite cool enough for the heavy-looking jacket he wore, but he refused to take it off and instead unzipped the front, exposing the white t-shirt clinging to his skin. He was passing by a local park when his ears picked up a faint, somehow familiar sound. For the first time since he started walking, his eyes deviated from the sidewalk.

A lone girl was sitting on the swings, tears streaming down her face. Her hands covered her mouth in a futile attempt to muffle her sobs. She couldn't have been more than 10, judging by her small stature and childish face. Her long blond hair was tied in messy braids that bounced softly against her chest as she swung slowly back and forth. Vash unconsciously took a step toward the girl and, upon hearing him approach, she looked up, met his eyes and flashed him the biggest smile she could manage. However, it wasn't big enough to hide the large bruise on her cheek, nor the band-aid hastily slapped on it. In that instant, Vash decided he hated that smile. He used to smile just like that, and for the same reason as well.

Vash sat on the swing next to the girl, and both were silent for a moment before Vash commented offhandedly "I like your dress."

"Thank you." The girl replied softly, looking up at the older boy. The remnants of her tears dried up on her face, but if she cared she didn't show it.

"What's your name?" Vash asked.

"Lilli. Lilli Stein." The girl told him. Vash nodded. He had heard of the Steins. They were both known as kind, respected members of the community. He heard their daughter was homeschooled, and she was shy and a klutz. That was probably a lie.

"And how old are you?"

"9."

Vash figured as much. He took a deep breath. He had to ask it, the question that no one had asked him. He gestured to the bruise on her face.

"Did your parents do that to you?"

Lilli's eyes widened, but she said nothing. She opted to look away instead. Vash guessed that whenever someone had asked about her injuries, one of her parents was around and had 'covered' for her.

He thought back to when he had been in the same place as Lilli. Unlike her, he had actually told people. He told his friend Roderich, he told his teacher Mr. Vargas, he told the few people he trusted but nobody believed him. They called him a liar, said he wanted attention, blew it off as a child's falsehoods. Slowly, Vash started closing himself off. He stopped flashing those big, fake grins. He stopped smiling at all. He didn't think he knew how anymore. All he wanted was for somebody to help him, but nobody did.

"Hey…..let's go somewhere." Vash suddenly said. He didn't know why he said it, he didn't even think about it. He did know, however, that he was going to help Lilli, no matter what it took.

Lilli turned to stare at him, shocked. "…Where?"

Vash shrugged. "Wherever you want, I guess. Somewhere far, far away. Somewhere where your parents will never find you or hurt you again."

"I don't know where I want to go though." Lilli mumbled shyly, looking away again. She shifted her feet on the dirt underneath her swing, a deep groove dug out by hundreds of children before her.

"Then we'll just go anywhere." Vash replied. He pulled himself off the swing and stood in front of Lilli, hand outstretched. "Are you coming with me?"

Lilli locked eyes with him, pondering his question. He looked scary, but his stare didn't hold any malice. Something about him told Lilli that she could trust him. Besides, he knew about her parents and wanted to hide her from them, so he couldn't be that bad, right? But there was only one problem. "Mom said I'm not supposed to go off with strangers."

"I can fix that." he nodded. "My name is Vash. Vash Zwingli. Now we're not strangers anymore."

Lilli gave a small, genuine smile and delicately, almost tentatively, took Vash's hand.

* * *

The two had vanished from their city almost two weeks ago. Vash never went anywhere without his wallet, despite being rather frugal, so the two caught a bus to a nearby town. They did the same in that town, and so on until Vash figured they were far enough away. Everything they needed Vash paid for with money he had saved up over the years. They found a small, out-of-the-way house that appeared to have been recently abandoned and after they fixed it up a bit, it was relatively inhabitable. Although there was no electricity, the gas and water lines were somehow still running so they could use the stove and taps. If anybody asked, which few people did, Vash told them Lilli was his sister and their parents bought the house, but they were always busy working. No one bothered to verify their story.

"L-Lilli?! What happened to your hair?!"

Vash woke up one morning only to enter the kitchen and see Lilli with a pair of scissors and two long blond braids lying on the floor.

"Oh, big brother, you noticed."

Lilli had recently taken to calling Vash "Big brother". It weirded him out at first, but he got used to it pretty quickly. He actually kind of liked it.

"Of course I noticed! Why did you suddenly cut your hair so short?! And by yourself too! Did something happen?" Vash inquired. He was terrified that someone did been asking her too many questions, or that she had been recognized.

Lilli fingered the jagged ends of her hair, looking sheepish. "I….I only did it to look more like you. D-do you not like it?"

Vash nearly let out a sigh of relief. So for the moment, they were still safe. But wait, Lilli cut her hair to look more like him? That thought made Vash uncomfortable, like he was receiving praise he knew he didn't deserve. "I….ah…..I think it's acceptable."

Lilli bowed her head slightly, smiling. "Thank you."

Now that Vash had gotten over his near-heart attack, he could inspect her attire more clearly. Lilli enjoyed picking out her own outfits from the few clothes she had (although she still had more than Vash), and today she had chosen a light green t-shirt and a pair of overalls. Combined with her new haircut, she looked positively boyish.

That day was a Sunday, so it was Vash and Lilli's day for visiting town. It wasn't that far, so they walked. They made the usual stops, saving the grocery store for last. They had an ice box to keep refrigerated items in, but for the most part they tried to buy as little of these as possible. They walked along the sidewalk, chatting and politely moving when a couple wished to pass them.

"Dios Mio, what a cute little brother you have!" a man walking with an irritated looking Italian said as they walked by.

"A-actually, this is…" Vash trailed off when he noticed Lilli trembling, her hands on her chest.

Vash nearly commented that, being 9 years old, Lilli shouldn't have much of a bust yet. However, he didn't want to make her more upset by pointing out her flaw in logic. Briefly, he questioned the odds of this happening on the one day Lilli didn't wear some kind of skirt. He noticed a nearby ribbon store and, taking Lilli's hand, led her inside. The store was filled with hundreds of rolls of ribbons. Thick ones, thin ones, all in every colour you could think of. Near the entrance was the sales counter, complete with a bored-looking saleswoman transfixed by a small television set. He swept his hand around the endless rack of ribbon rolls. "Pick whichever one you like."

After a few minutes later, Lilli had found a thick purple ribbon that she had instantly fallen in love with. "Can you tie this for me?" she asked after Vash had paid for it. He fumbled with it awkwardly for a minute before the saleswoman tapped him on the shoulder.

"Let me do it."

The speed at which she tied the ribbon impressed Vash. "Thank you. That was fast."

The saleswoman pointed to the large blue ribbon on her own head. "This doesn't tie itself, you know."

Lilli turned to Vash, the ribbon hanging from her hair swaying a bit. "So, big brother? How does it look?"

Vash thought it looked adorable on her, even if it was such a small accessory. He was never very good at articulating his feelings though, so in the end he managed to stammer out "Ah, you know, I think it's fine."

Lilli nodded. "I'm glad you like it."

They left just before the program on the small TV switched to a missing child report on a certain "Lilli Stein."

* * *

Vash and Lilli managed to live for another two weeks like this, with weekly trips to the market and quiet dinners by themselves. Sometimes Vash would try smiling back at Lilli, with her politely commenting "Please don't push yourself." at each failure. To Lilli, this was almost like a dream. It was as if her fairy godmother had finally decided to bless her with a magic spell to make her happy. And it did. Vash taught her things like love, happiness, a warm bowl of soup, everything her parents didn't teach her. In her childish innocence, she didn't realize these days were coming to an end.

But this magic wasn't meant to last forever. And on September 16, at 7:30 AM, the spell was broken.

Vash answered a knock on the door to see three police officers, guns drawn. The middle one, a young man with the nametag "JONES" and a funny cowlick sticking out from under his hat, spoke.

"Are you Vash Zwingli?"

"Yes." Vash didn't bother with trying to lie to them. He knew the game was over. He maintained a poker face and lifted his hands, open-palmed, to show he had no weapons. The officer on the right, an albino with the nametag "BEILSCHMIDT", frisked him and proceeded to cuff him.

"Big brother? What's going on?"

That soft voice made Vash's heart stop. Lilli peeked out timidly from behind a corner. "Who are these men?"

"We're police officers. Are you Lilli?" Jones asked. Lilli nodded her head.

"What are you doing with my big brother?" she asked.

The officer on the left, a man with spiky hair his hat was awkwardly perched on and the nametag "KOHLER", took a step towards her. "Well, you see, your 'big brother'-" he shot Vash a dirty look. "-is a very bad man. But it's okay, because we've got him, so now you can see your parents again."

Lilli's eyes grew as wide as saucers and Vash could see tears beginning to well up. "No! I don't want to see my parents! Let him go!" She ran towards Vash, but was intercepted and held back by Kohler. "I want my big brother!"

Jones pulled on Vash's arms, which were handcuffed behind his back. "Alright Zwingli, let's go." Vash obediently let himself be led away. When he was halfway to the police car, Lilli managed to break free from Kohler and clung to Vash's legs. She buried her face in the fabric already becoming damp with tears.

"No! You can't leave me! Please!" she cried. "They'll send me back to my parents! What am I supposed to do without you?!"

Vash's face softened and he knelt down to her level, where she switched to wrapping her arms around his neck and drying her tears in his shirt.

"Look Lilli, I have done something bad, and people who do bad things need to be punished, no matter what their intentions were. The world doesn't forgive lies and deception." He explained gently. She sniffled and shook her head slightly, but he continued. "So I need you to do something for me." He took a deep breath. "The world is full of bad things, like your parents, and loneliness, and goodbyes. But it's also full of good things, like friendship, and hope, and stepping on crunchy leaves. These police officers are good too, even though it doesn't feel like it. The world is full of good things like this. So please, don't make the world your enemy. Don't grow up to hate it…..like I did."

Kohler apparently decided this was a good time to break the two up, and gently tore Lilli off Vash as Jones and Beilschmidt tugged Vash the other way. Lilli started crying again, but she didn't resist Kohler this time and Vash was put into the back of the cruiser. He looked back as they pulled away and watched Kohler put Lilli in the other cruiser.

Jones and Beilschmidt started bantering in the front seat, but Vash paid them no attention. He rested his head on the back of the seat and closed his eyes to drown out the world. Yet, Lilli's tear-streaked face was still there in the back of his mind.

He knew the consequences of his actions, and was fully prepared to accept them. He had expected this from the beginning. If his plan worked, then it would all be worth it. Even if it hurt both of them.

If Lilli was happy, then Vash didn't care what happened to him. She mattered much more. His only regret was that the magic hadn't lasted just a little bit longer.

* * *

Vash plead guilty to kidnapping and was sentenced to 20 years, with a possibility of parole after 8. Following his arrest and Lilli's accusations, an investigation was launched into possible child abuse in the Stein family due to all the publicity. The resulting report sent both Mr. and Mrs. Stein to prison for many years. This was, of course, Vash's plan all along. He figured that the media wouldn't let Lilli's case be pushed back, and then she could be with a family that would treat her better. Luckily, she was.

Lilli ended up being adopted by a gay couple that was friends with an officer Mathias Kohler, Berwald Oxenstierna and Tino Vainamoinen. She gained a new little brother named Peter, and a dog named Hanatamago, and lots of new friends. She had her quirks too, like insisting on being called Lilli Zwingli and an odd interest in firearms, but her friends didn't mind. She was happy, that's for sure, but her happiness was missing just one thing.

The girl stood patiently outside the high chain-link fence lined with barbed wire. She had waited 9 years for this day. She put on her best dress for the occasion too. With everything he did for her, he deserved the best she had to offer. She heard a loud buzzing sound and the gate in front of her slowly slid open. A man staggered out, shielding his eyes against the bright sun, and the gate slammed shut behind him.

He looked to be in his late twenties, with a stiff demeanor that suited him. An old green jacket was slung over his shoulder. As he grew accustomed to his surroundings, he noticed the girl standing a short distance away and blinked in surprise.

"L…Lilli?"

Lilli nodded eagerly and without warning she enveloped him in the biggest hug she could muster. Vash was so surprised he forgot to react; it was obvious he never expected to see her again. When she finally released him, he struggled to regain his voice.

"Wh….what are you doing here?" he asked.

Lilli smiled. "Isn't it obvious, big brother? I came here to pick you up."

'Big brother'? Wow, Vash hadn't heard that in a long time. It brought back a comfortable nostalgic feeling. Lilli continued on.

"I wasn't sure if you had anywhere else to go, and nobody wants to be alone when they re-enter the world, right? So I asked my dads and they offered to let you stay at our house until you get on your feet. They're actually waiting around the block to take us there. Follow me." With this, she took Vash's hand and led him along.

Vash, who by now was thoroughly confused by these current events and new information, tried to get his mind to focus on individual this at a time. "Dads?"

"Yes." Lilli replied. "I have two dads now, as well as a little brother and a dog. I'm sure they'll like you."

"Oh." Vash said. "That's nice." He stared at her for a minute before blurting out "Your hair's still short."

Lilli's cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "I've found it suits me rather well." Vash noticed a frayed, faded purple ribbon tied around a lock of hair near her face and was struck with a sense of déjà vu.

They talked like this for a few minutes and as they neared closer to Lilli's dads' car, she suddenly commented "Oh, by the way, I've been thinking about where I want to go."

Vash's mind blanked. "What?"

She looked back at him. "Remember when we first met? You said we could go anywhere I wanted, but I didn't know where I wanted to go. So I've been thinking about it."

"Oh, r-really?" Vash stammered.

Lilli nodded, and gave him a shy smile. "I think I want to go to Switzerland."

Vash blinked. "Switzerland?" He wondered how she knew he was Swiss.

Lilli looked away, looking a bit embarrassed. "Yeah. And there's this tiny country next to it called Liechtenstein that I'd like to visit as well."

"Well, we'll have to go there then, won't we?" Vash replied.

They got into the car and a cheerful looking man turned around from the front seat. "Hello, you must be Vash Zwingli. My name is Tino. We've heard a lot of good things about you."

The driver then turned around. He was without a doubt one of the scariest men Vash had ever seen in his life, and he had been in prison. The scary man merely nodded at Vash and said "B'rw'ld." Vash nodded back, and with that "B'rw'ld" turned back and the car began to roll away from the curb.

Tino chattered on with polite questions about Vash's preferences and interests, and Vash answered them as best he could. At least, Lilli thought he did. She wasn't really paying attention to the conversation. She was just looking at Vash. He was definitely a little worse for wear, but he seemed to be the same Vash she knew, the same Vash that changed her life forever. Vash's eyes flicked to her and Lilli was immediately flustered, embarrassed to be caught staring. And then something happened. Something so small, so insignificant that if you hadn't been looking for it you would've missed it entirely. But Lilli noticed it, and even though it was gone again in an instant she was filled with a sense of surprise and satisfaction.

There, for that brief moment, Vash smiled.

A honest, happy smile.


End file.
